Seizures

Overview

A seizure is a surge of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. This can cause severe noticeable symptoms like violent shaking or mild symptoms with no shaking at all. There are different types of seizures including non-epileptic seizures (resulting from injury), partial seizures (associated with epilepsy happening only on one side of the brain), and generalized seizures (associated with epilepsy affecting both sides of the brain).

Many medications are available to treat seizures, however surgery is an alternative for some whose seizures cannot be treated with medications. Surgery can be especially helpful to people who have seizures from structural brain problems (such as benign brain tumors, strokes or malformations of blood vessels).